Jammed afterlife on my back porch in the shade from the summer heat and I’ll tell you what, it was a vibe
The run of June Guitar/Real Thing/Afterlife/Beam Me Up is incredible. If only Spinning and Louisiana were swapped it'd be a perfect run
I think I actually prefer the back half of the album! But "Beam Me Up" has been stuck in my head for days
I absolutely hate what he's doing vocally on it. shame because it would have been a decent song if he just sang normally.
"far and wide" is weird to me because the singing when the song starts irks me every single time but by the end of the song I like it overall haha
It's just a character. Feels like Neil Young to me. I really, genuinely love it just for that one, specific song lol. Alex G has never been a great singer, but I think he's a very good vocalist, and that song feels like someone who can't sing particularly well singing anyways and somehow being backed by an orchestra. It's beautiful
I'm not super familiar with his pre-Rocket material. I'm listening to this song for the first time now and having the same feelings as I do re far and wide. the music is so nice! why is he testing me with the muppet vocals!
Some things I do for love Some things I do for money It ain't like I don't want it It ain't like I'm above it Man. I know this lyric was pulled by a lot of reviews but what a knockout, especially with the context of him basically being like, "everything from here on out is about building a future for my son." Like, the line in "Headlights" about letting the money pave the way. I love that he's writing about the songwriting simultaneously being a financial necessity and also a labor of love.
Far and Wide reminded me of Daniel Johnston or like an old timey musical, i like it also how can you not love In Love?? the mood and lyrics are great and it sounds like he's singing in the dustiest old club
Alex is a silly guy even when he’s being serious so I think the weird voices and vocal affects are thematically sound for him.
I have only seen him live once, incidentally, when he opened for Dr. Dog a while ago maybe after Rocket came out. And the whole band seemed like teenagers laughing like Beavis and Butthead at a joke only they understood, on stage and even at the merch table that Alex ran himself. That goofiness and seeing how much more energy he has live with the full band unlocked his back catalogue for me and I’ve loved every album he’s released since then. I don’t know if I saw them on an especially goofy night or if that’s what he normally is like with his band live but it helped contextualize his music for me as less dry/boring/self-serious than it initially read to me the first handful of times I tried listening.
I’m hoping I get there but it’s not looking good. The voice is so fucking bad I’m sorry. Song has other redeeming qualities but I cannot stand it still lol. it absolutely does not feel like Neil Young to me, in any way at all
I like this record a whole lot so it doesn’t seem fair to say that one song is holding it back but that’s almost true for me. That is probably a me issue though
Be careful though. The mods in that thread will ban you if you say anything even remotely positive about Far and Wide.
Okay but to steer back away from the rocks: Logan Hotel has officially joined the three singles as one of my all time favorite songs of his